temprare

Forms

temprare (first-person singular present témpro or (traditional) tèmpro, first-person singular past historic temprài, past participle tempràto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin temperāre (“to mix in due proportion”), the popular form beside temperare.^[2][3][1] It shows the regular loss of the vowel before the stress.^[4][5] Nocentini notes that the Latin verb was used above all of metals, as in French tremper, Occitan trempar, Catalan trempar and Spanish templar.^[2][6] The Latin verb is formed from the stem of tempus (“time”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI first finds the sense “to temper (metal)” in the Italian Palladio of about 1340.^[7][8] Zingarelli dates the word before 1294, Nocentini before 1314.^[9][2]

Semantic evolution

In the old and literary language temprare was used in all the senses of temperare.^[10] Petrarch has Love forge and temper his arrows (Amor fabbrica e tempra le saette), and Dante uses the word for giving rhythm to steps: Temprava i passi un'angelica nota.^[11][3]

In modern Italian the two forms have separated: temperare is used for “to moderate” and “to sharpen (a pencil)”, temprare for tempering metal or glass and for strengthening body and mind.^[10] The figurative sense “to toughen” is recorded from 1891.^[7]

Timeline

• Before 1294 – First record, according to Zingarelli.^[9]
• c. 1340 – Temprare “to temper” is used in the Italian Palladio.^[7]
• 1871 – Ritemprare is recorded.^[2]
• 1891 – The figurative sense “to strengthen” is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (technology) To temper metal or glass by heat treatment: temprare una lama d'acciaio.^[8][3][5]
2. (figurative) To strengthen, toughen the body or the character: gli anni in montagna l'hanno temprato.^[8][3][5]
3. (archaic) The same as temperare.^[8][9]
4. (archaic) To give rhythm to, or to modulate sounds.^[3]
5. temprarsi: to become stronger in body or mind.^[3][5][9]

Word family

• tempra
• ritemprare
• temprato
• temprabile

Related words

• temperare
• tempo
• French tremper

Usage notes

The first person is tèmpro in the traditional pronunciation and témpro beside it.^[1][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 441
5. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 20, 855